{"id":3969,"date":"2025-11-28T17:18:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T17:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/?p=3969"},"modified":"2025-11-28T17:18:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T17:18:47","slug":"dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Professor <strong>Kristen Syrett<\/strong> shared her insights on the rise of &#8220;6-7&#8221; in a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rutgers.edu\/news\/how-6-7-became-word-year?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=rutgerstoday&amp;utm_content=Experts\">interview<\/a> exploring how a phrase with no clear definition became <em>Dictionary.com<\/em>\u2019s word of the year. The post looks at the sudden popularity of this inside joke among teens and tweens, and how it grew from scattered internet clips into a cultural phenomenon. While \u201c6-7\u201d may not function like a traditional word, Dr. Syrett explains that its power comes from its role as a <em>social signal,<\/em> especially when paired with its recognizable hand gesture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She notes that the appeal of the phrase is rooted in its ambiguity. Much like youth catchphrases from previous decades, its meaning lies less in semantics and more in its ability to mark belonging within a generation. Professor Syrett also places 6-7 within a broader shift in how \u201cwords of the year\u201d are chosen, with modern selections often reflecting cultural moments rather than standard vocabulary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By tracing the phrase\u2019s origins across music, sports videos, and viral online trends, Dr. Syrett highlights the convergence of influences that propelled &#8220;6-7&#8221; into widespread use. Ultimately, she emphasizes that its popularity reflects the creativity of younger speakers and the accelerating impact of digital culture on how language evolves today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor Kristen Syrett shared her insights on the rise of &#8220;6-7&#8221; in a recent interview exploring how a phrase with no clear definition became Dictionary.com\u2019s word of the year. The &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\" class=\"\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year - Linguistics Graduate Students Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year - Linguistics Graduate Students Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Professor Kristen Syrett shared her insights on the rise of &#8220;6-7&#8221; in a recent interview exploring how a phrase with no clear definition became Dictionary.com\u2019s word of the year. The &hellip; Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Linguistics Graduate Students Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-28T17:18:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Quartz Colvin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Quartz Colvin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year - Linguistics Graduate Students Association\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-28T17:18:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-28T17:18:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/#\/schema\/person\/b15a6e8cd15d06df3d222be660832c5f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/\",\"name\":\"Linguistics Graduate Students Association\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/#\/schema\/person\/b15a6e8cd15d06df3d222be660832c5f\",\"name\":\"Quartz Colvin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f3346ed9bc3f40e2afa78ca3e39f668?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f3346ed9bc3f40e2afa78ca3e39f668?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Quartz Colvin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/author\/cmc741\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year - Linguistics Graduate Students Association","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/lgsa\/dr-kristen-syrett-on-how-6-7-became-the-word-of-the-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr. Kristen Syrett on How 6-7 Became the Word of the Year - Linguistics Graduate Students Association","og_description":"Professor Kristen Syrett shared her insights on the rise of &#8220;6-7&#8221; in a recent interview exploring how a phrase with no clear definition became Dictionary.com\u2019s word of the year. 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